


Barbara's Secret

by imback375



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Crack, Drug Addiction, Explicit Language, Gen, Out of Character, Peer Pressure, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-02-14 18:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13013496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imback375/pseuds/imback375
Summary: Barbara has been acting strangely lately, and Hannah is determined to get to the bottom of it. As Hannah comes close to discovering Barbara's secret, she finds their friendship must face the ultimate test.





	1. Distance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be warned that this fic, although written as a joke, contains explicit content that could offend.

Barbara had been acting strangely recently, and although Hannah had noticed, she hadn't come to the conclusion that something was up until today. She couldn't exactly pinpoint what was wrong with Barbara though, so she repressed the thought. 

Hannah currently sat on her bed, pencil eraser pressed to her lip as she stared at Barbara's empty bed next to hers. A spellbook was open in her lap, but she couldn't focus. She wondered if maybe Barbara acting differently had just been something she'd imagined. Diana was on the other side of the bookshelf across the room, but after a short moment of thought, Hannah decided against asking Diana if she'd noticed something different about Barbara too. She already knew Diana would just tell her not to worry about such silly things, and besides, even if Diana had noticed, she wouldn't have thought anything of it. Plus, why would Diana? She was too focused on her studies to take note of Hannah or Barbara. 

She sighed loudly in an attempt to get Diana to initiate a conversation, but as expected the only sound in return was the flipping of a page. Diana would assume Hannah was just doing homework. The doorknob began to turn, and a bleary-eyed Barbara appeared. She was pinching her own bloody nose and holding a tissue up to it. 

"What's wrong?" asked Hannah as Barbara walked by her, opening her dresser and putting something into it. 

"My nose started bleeding in the library," she replied. It was pretty obvious. "By the way, do you want to go for a walk? Avery and I are going around the grounds for some fresh air. She's bringing Mary and Blair, so I thought I'd ask. My nose is just about cleared up now." 

Hannah, who'd already closed her spellbook and put it to the side, scooted to the edge of her bed and stretched. "Sure, but isn't it raining?" 

"Just put on your raincoat," Barbara gestured vaguely, "I'm going to go find Avery. Can you meet us at the statue out front?" 

Hannah nodded as Barbara disappeared and walked to her dresser, opening the third drawer to get her raincoat. It wasn't there. Surprised, she started rummaging through her other drawers, but to no avail. "Diana," she called, "Have you seen my raincoat anywhere?" 

"No," she responded, "Have you checked your dresser?" 

"Of course I have," Hannah huffed, "It's not there." 

"Perhaps Barbara took it by accident," Diana suggested through the bookcase. Hannah muttered in agreement, crossing over to Barbara's dresser. The two of them shared clothes often--sometimes unintentionally since their uniforms were nearly identical--so her raincoat could be here. She carefully began looking through Barbara's folded clothes, but she didn't find her raincoat. Instead, stashed underneath a Christmas sweater, she found a little bag. Inside was some kind of white powder, but Hannah didn't know what it was. She assumed it was some kind of potion ingredient, so she put it back. A minute later, she spotted her raincoat on Barbara's bed, crumpled against her pillow in plain sight. Of course, she hadn't noticed it until now. 

The walk was nice. Blair resisted the urge to jump into any puddles, and the cool air was the perfect temperature as the sun set. As they returned, Avery and her roommates went their separate way and Hannah and Barbara headed towards their room, talking idly and teasing Akko as she skipped past. 

The following day after classes were over, Hannah and Barbara were alone in their room. Diana, as usual, was probably somewhere studying. Hannah was complaining about their homework when she remembered the powder from the day before. 

"That reminds me," she walked to Barbara's dresser and withdrew the bag, "I was looking for my raincoat yesterday and I saw this. What is it?" Barbara looked at the bag wide-eyed. "What is it?" Hannah repeated after a moment of silence. "It's for a potion, right?" 

"Oh, well," Barbara blushed, "Yes. It's, um, crystalline lunar powder. It's very expensive. I'm doing some research on it." 

"Research?" Hannah questioned with a smile, "Are you Barbara or Diana?" Barbara smiled and shrugged shyly. Hannah put the little pouch back in the drawer and laid on her bed, already talking about something else.

The next day Hannah awoke to find Barbara had already left. If anything, this was definitely one of the strange changes to Barbara's recent behavior. Before, Hannah and Barbara were practically joined at the hip, but for the past month or so, Hannah had found it increasingly difficult to locate her best friend. She figured it was only because Barbara had been hanging out with Avery more, so she didn't really question it beyond asking Barbara where she had been sometimes. 

Hannah returned to her room after getting breakfast. Surprisingly, Diana was curled up on the sofa. Unsurprisingly, she was reading a book that Hannah could not decipher the title of. "Hi Diana," she greeted as she sat beside her friend. "What are you reading?"

Diana gave a small smile and turned a page. "I'm reading a book about the different magical properties for each of the moon's phases." 

"I see," Hannah replied. The room grew silent once more. Hannah loved and admired Diana, but if she was being honest with herself, she would agree that her friend was no master conversationalist when it came to their chats. Hannah wished Barbara would show up soon. She relied on her friend to prevent these slightly awkward conversations with Diana from happening. A few moments later, Hannah had a thought. "Hey, Diana?" 

"Yes?" 

"What are the properties of crystalline lunar powder?" 

Diana turned a page and looked up from her book at Hannah. "Crystalline lunar powder? Where did you hear about that?" 

"From Barbara," Hannah said enthusiastically, curiosity taking over her. "It's some kind of ingredient. She says she's doing research on it." 

Diana frowned. "I've done research on thousands of different ingredients and have never once come across such a thing. Are you sure that's what she called it?" 

Hannah nodded and stood up. "Here, I'll show you. She had a little pouch of it in here-" Hannah opened Barbara's dresser drawer and withdrew the bag, or at least, she tried to, but the pouch was no longer there. "Oh no," Hannah pouted after a few seconds of rifling through different drawers, "She must have taken it with her." 

"Hmm," Diana hummed, returning to her book. "When she returns, I'd like to see this ‘lunar powder'." 

Barbara came back later that night, but Hannah had already forgotten about the crystal powder. She explained that she'd been spending the day in the library. She'd become quite the model student it seemed. Diana was snoring softly on her side of the bookshelf, and Hannah quickly found herself falling asleep as well. At one point she could hear Barbara whispering to her to see if she was awake, but she was too tired to respond and fell asleep only a minute later. 

The next morning Hannah slept in late. There were no classes again today, so she was taking advantage of the extra time to rest. When she woke up, Barbara was sitting on her bed across the room fully dressed, her nose in a book. Hannah yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Diana walked past with her coat on, and Hannah perked up. Barbara looked up as well. "Good morning Diana," Hannah chimed, "Where are you going?"

"There is something I want to research, but I don't have all of the ingredients I need to conduct the research properly. I'm going to town to try to find them." 

"Oh," Hannah nearly squeaked in excitement, shoving her blanket away and standing up, "Can I come too, Diana? Please?" She looked at Barbara, expecting her to mirror her reaction, but Barbara simply gave a small smile and went back to reading. How strange. 

"Sure," Diana replied, "But you'd better hurry up and get dressed, and try to help me find what I need. Meet me out front at the usual place." With a turn of her heel, Diana was out of the room. 

Part of Hannah remained excited as she pulled on her stockings, but there was another part of her that felt nervous. "Barbara, aren't you coming?" Barbara, like Hannah, never passed up an opportunity to go somewhere with Diana, but the other girl didn't move.

"No," she answered, "I think today I”ll just stay in and read. I'm at a really good part." 

Hannah couldn't help but pout. Since when did Barbara not want to hang out with her and Diana? It seemed that, outside of class, the two of them had barely spent any time together lately. Sure, they had gone for a walk two days before, but that had been with Avery and the other girls. Was Barbara getting tired of her? Hannah consoled herself. No, her friend was just reading, and there was nothing to get worked up about. Besides, even if it would be a little odd without Barbara, Hannah looked forward to spending the day with Diana. 

Once Hannah and Diana made it to town, they walked around, checking out the different shops and such. After about an hour, Hannah became hungry, so the pair sought out a little cafe and got lunch. It was past noon now, and as Hannah finished her meal she could see that Diana was growing restless. "If we do not find the ingredients soon, I won't be able to get started with my research tonight," Diana voiced her worries. 

"How about we split up?" Hannah offered. Often when she and Barbara went places with Diana, they would split up. Too late, Hannah realized that if she and Diana were to split up, Hannah would be alone this time. She bit her lip, wondering if suggesting it was a mistake. Diana agreed with the idea and another hour later Hannah was walking around the town by herself. She had no problem with this, but she couldn't deny it was somewhat boring. She looked for Diana's ingredients and found the ones she was supposed to get. She figured she should find Diana, but after a while of searching to no avail she gave up and turned to go back to Luna Nova. Why had Hannah wanted to do this again? Maybe it was because she wanted Diana's favor. That must have been it.

When Hannah returned, she went to the dining hall to get a cookie. She'd grown hungry again over the course of her walk alone. Diana was most likely already back in the room, waiting for Hannah to bring her purchases to her. 

Hannah wondered if Barbara would still be in their room. It seemed like she had been so busy lately; she was almost never there anymore. Maybe it had something to do with her research. 

Huh? Where had that idea come from? Hannah walked towards their room, deep in thought. It wasn't like that was even relevant. Still, she realized, Barbara had acted a little strangely when she told Hannah about her research. Diana had never even heard of crystalline lunar powder, which was especially odd. Hannah didn't know where this train of thought had come from--maybe she was just looking for an explanation for Barbara's behavior. Then again, Hannah could just be imagining all of this. She could be a bit dramatic at times. 

Finally, Hannah reached her hall and approached the door to her shared room slowly, cookie in hand. She didn't hear anyone inside, but that was typical, even when both of her roommates were present. When Hannah opened the door and stepped inside, she was shocked. Barbara was sitting on the floor at the table in front of the sofa. She had what looked like a straw, and white powder poured on the table in a thin, neat row. Hannah watched in horror as she brought the straw to her nose, and used it to suck up the powder. Hannah nearly dropped her cookie. 

Barbara, who was recovering from snorting the powder, looked up slowly. When she saw Hannah, she shrieked, jumping so violently that it was a good thing she was up against the couch cushions. 

Hannah, who was close to equally startled by Barbara's shriek, looked on in fearful confusion. She'd never seen anything like this. There was a long silence as Barbara attempted to regain her composure. The cookie in Hannah's hand was melting and getting chocolate on her fingers. "Hannah," Barbara began as she swept the remaining powder on the table into a neat little pile, "You surprised me."

Hannah forced herself to speak. "I just got back… Is Diana here?" She was stalling before she would have to ask what Barbara had been up to. 

"No, I haven't seen her." Barbara was clearly anxious, but Hannah had to get to the bottom of this. 

"Um," she started, "What were you doing just now, with that stuff?" 

Barbara avoided eye contact. "Well, you know that ingredient I told you I was doing research on?" 

"Yeah," Hannah answered. She was concerned, but also curious. 

"Well, to implement it, you have to suck it with a straw like this." With a straw in the nose? 

"Why?" 

"Well, it's sort of like an um, hmm," Barbara appeared to be in thought. "It clears your sinuses." 

Hannah looked on with disbelief. "Huh? It clears your sinuses? Something called crystalline lunar powder clears your sinuses? That doesn't seem right." She suddenly felt annoyed. Barbara had to be lying to her. "Besides," she paused, wondering if she should mention Diana and deciding against it, "I asked some people if they'd ever heard of such a thing, and they said they hadn't!" 

Barbara appeared stricken. Maybe Hannah was being too dramatic. "It's because it's a rare ingredient. It's expensive but it clears your sinuses semi-permanently. It prevents colds and infections." 

Hannah huffed in annoyance. That had to be the most preposterous thing she’d ever heard! "Well if it's so great, how about sharing it?" She reached for the little pouch Barbara had swept the remaining powder into. 

"No!" Barbara shrieked, then continued in a calmer tone, "I told you it's very hard to get, and I don't want to share it."

"Fine, then!" Hannah walked over to her bed and sat down angrily, her back to the area of the room where Barbara was. Either her friend was lying to her, or she was really just being stingy. Hannah didn't want to believe any of that, though. She wasn't entitled to Barbara sharing, and truly she didn't want to be shared with, but she had thought that if Barbara had shared it would show she was telling the truth. Then there was the question of why she wouldn't be. While Barbara certainly acted like it, Hannah couldn't think of a reason she would, unless… maybe the powder was dangerous. There were some ingredients banned within Luna Nova because they had caused some serious problems in the past. Students had become ill, or worse. Hannah had to do something if this was what she was up against! She didn't believe Barbara would dabble in anything unless she had to. Hannah was determined to get to the bottom of this. 

That night, Hannah laid in bed in thought. She and Barbara hadn't spoken all afternoon, keeping to opposite sides of the room. Diana had returned a couple hours ago but she hadn't commented on the tense atmosphere. She simply took the things Hannah had found for her in town and retreated to her side of the wall. Hannah heard footsteps approach as Barbara opened her dresser and closed it. She said Hannah's name, to see if she was awake, but Hannah ignored her, pretending to sleep. Barbara's little sigh in response almost made her regret it. There were more footsteps and the opening and closing of a door. Without a doubt, Barbara had gone to take a shower down the hall. Their own private bath had become temporarily clogged with a mix of long, blonde, black, and brunette hairs. 

Hannah listened for a few seconds to make sure it was safe, and then hopped up out of bed, jumping to Barbara's dresser and looking through it. She was going to find Barbara's powder and wake Diana up, settling this once and for all. She was tired of the tension and the mystery of it all. The powder wasn't in the dresser, but Hannah did not give up. She looked under Barbara's bed, under her blanket, in her nightstand drawer, everywhere. At last, she found what she was looking for! Sneakily stuffed into Barbara's pillowcase was the little pouch. Hannah whirred around, fully prepared to march over to Diana's bedside and wake her, but the girl had already emerged from behind the bookshelf, looking at her quizzically.

"What are you doing? I'm trying to study." 

“Good, you’re awake. Do you remember the other day when I told you Barbara was researching crystalline lunar powder?”

“I suppose,” Diana responded, crossing her arms, “But I’ve done a little research of my own, and it doesn’t seem to exist, or at least, it’s extremely rare.” 

“Exactly!” Hannah said with enthusiasm. Diana would surely agree with her. “Barbara’s been acting very weird lately, for the past few weeks or so, and I think it’s got something to do with this!” Hannah held up the pouch for Diana to see, and the girl stepped forward and took it from her gingerly. 

“I haven’t noticed any strange behavior from Barbara, but you would be the one to know. Let’s see here…” Diana opened the pouch and looked down into it. “What makes you think this stuff is the cause?” 

Hannah told Barbara what she had witnessed earlier that day. Diana looked skeptic as Hannah added more details about what Barbara had been doing, how she’d reacted, and what she had said about the powder. “And another thing--I just remembered! A few days ago Barbara came back with a bloody nose. I didn’t think it mattered but now I wonder if this powder caused it? What if this stuff is a danger to her health?” Hannah bit her lip, enthusiasm turning to worry. 

Diana had extracted some of the powder and was gritting it between her thumb and forefinger while she studied it. Hannah continued rambling; she was trying to solve a puzzle that she didn’t have all the pieces to.

“Hannah.”

Hannah stopped talking and looked at Diana expectantly, waiting to hear what she thought. Diana looked up from the powder on her fingers, face completely blank.

“This is cocaine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were confused. Mary, Avery, and Blair: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_DUDPNUIAA1Y2Z.jpg
> 
> I wish there were more stories about Hannah and Barbara, rather than just having them in the background. I'll write them myself, if I have to.


	2. Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to ampersandra. ;-)
> 
> Meme summary of chapter 1: https://i.imgur.com/XIs2SUy.png

Barbara always took an especially long time in the showers when she took them at night, which, although it offered Hannah the initial opportunity to find the cocaine, was now only adding to her mounting anxiety as she waited on her bed, hands clasped together. Diana had returned to her side of the bookshelf in Barbara’s absence, leaving Hannah to her thoughts. 

This was all her fault. Hannah should have noticed something weird was going on with Barbara from the very beginning. She should’ve said something to Barbara sooner when she first found the powder, or when her friend had just begun to act strangely, not wait all this time. The news of what the substance actually was made her feel physically sick. What could have driven Barbara to such an extreme? How could Hannah have been so stupid? She’d been so desperate to believe whatever her friend had told her, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Crystalline lunar powder-- Oh, please! Barbara had played her for a fool.

Diana came around and sat down beside Hannah gingerly. “Don’t blame yourself,” she said, as if she had read her mind, “You didn’t know, and I’m sure we’ll be able to sort all of this out when she comes back.” Hannah knew that Diana was trying to make her feel better, but the reminder that Barbara would be back any minute and that Diana intended to confront the girl made her stomach flip. These were no ordinary butterflies, but perhaps an angry swarm of bees. Before she could get overwhelmed by her thoughts again, she felt Diana squeeze her hand reassuringly. “It will be fine. When Barbara gets back, we’ll just have a little chat.” 

Hannah wondered how Diana could be so calm and collected at a time like this, although it made sense. Barbara was Hannah’s best friend, not necessarily Diana’s. Plus, Diana was always able to keep up her demeanor anyway. Hannah swallowed and forced herself to nod back in response. As if on cue, the door opened and Barbara walked inside, and, to Hannah’s surprise, Avery did too. They were laughing at something as they entered, but both fell silent when they saw Diana and Hannah staring at them. “What?” Barbara asked, walking over to her nightstand and putting up her bath products. “Is something wrong?” 

Avery lingered a few feet away, looking impatient and uncomfortable over the sight of Barbara’s sullen roommates. Diana took the initiative and spoke. “Barbara, we wanted to talk to you about something. In private,” she added, her eyes sliding to Avery. The girl was looking between Diana and Barbara, her arms crossed and eyebrows knit together in a scowl. Barbara was giving Avery a look that Hannah couldn’t quite decipher. 

“Um, can it wait until later?” Barbara asked. Her voice was sweet, but Hannah could tell it was a bit forced. “I was going to go study with Avery for a little while.” 

“Study?” Hannah squeaked in disbelief, feeling an intense mixture of emotions coming over her. Concern and anxiety were quickly turning into frustration. She’d had quite enough, and this was the last straw. “It’s almost ten o’clock!”

“Well yeah, but…” Barbara trailed off, trying to find the words. 

“Hannah is right,” Diana interrupted. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to study tomorrow. We need to talk to you.”

“Oh, tomorrow?” Barbara sneered, her tone changing unexpectedly. She put her hands on her hips. “You spend all night and day studying, Diana! Who are you to tell me what to do? Whatever you need to say can wait. I’m going to study in Avery’s room.” 

Diana was quiet for a moment, and the atmosphere grew tense. Hannah could sense that Diana was as surprised by this outburst as she felt herself, though she hid it well. Barbara had never even spoken like that to Hannah before, much less Diana. “Very well.” Diana answered coldly. “Go then.” 

“Diana,” Hannah interjected, “What about our talk?” 

“Don’t worry,” she said softly. The two watched as Barbara hurried out of the room, Avery in tow. When the door closed behind them, Diana stood up slowly and idled between the two beds, her hand on her chin in thought. Hannah waited for her to say something, but after a moment she just sighed and sat back down on Barbara’s bed. 

“Do you think she’s going to snort more cocaine?” Hannah blurted, any frustration having dissipated back into concern. Her friend was obviously dealing with some kind of issue. 

“I don’t know,” Diana stated, “but I think so. She and Avery have that same look about them; I just noticed it. You said they started to spend more time together about a month ago right?”

Hannah nodded. “Something like that.”

“I suspect,” she pressed a finger to her lip, “that she’s getting the drug from her.” 

“What about her roommates?” 

“It’s possible they are involved too. Do you think they’d go for it?” 

Hannah pictured Avery and her roommates in her mind. Avery was short and sarcastic. Hannah knew she could be mean at times, but for the most part she got along with her. She didn’t exactly fit Hannah’s mental image of someone who might potentially do cocaine, but she did more than Blair or Mary. Then again, Hannah’s mental image was useless at this point. She’d never expected Barbara to do anything like this in a million years, and yet she’d seen it herself. 

“It’s hard to say. I didn’t think Barbara would’ve gone for it, but obviously she did. Blair might, and I could see Mary getting wrapped up in it with the others, but I just don’t know.” Hannah wet her lips. She could tell Diana was planning something by her expression. 

“Okay, here’s what we should do. It is clear that Barbara has caught on that we may know, which explains why she got so mad. If we confront her about it directly, she’ll definitely get defensive and try to deny it. We have to catch her in the act.” 

“But,” Hannah questioned, “After everything that’s happened yesterday and today I doubt she’ll do it again in here for a long time, unless she’s sure we won’t come back for a while.” 

“Exactly,” said Diana, “So we don’t catch her here. We go after her.” 

Diana explained her plan and Hannah agreed. The two sat together for about half an hour. There were classes being held in the morning, but they couldn’t focus on that right now. Barbara clearly wasn’t worried about it either, because she hadn’t come back yet. Her uniform was still here, so she’d have to return before the night was over. Barbara probably counted on Hannah and Diana going to sleep before she came back. 

Diana was in Barbara’s bed, writing in her diary it seemed. Hannah was glad that Diana was making such an effort to help her with Barbara. Despite Diana’s reserved nature, she did care for her roommates in the end. As Hannah was thinking about this she felt her eyelids begin to grow heavy, and sleep came over her before she knew it. 

Hannah was in the middle of having a pleasant dream when she was woken up. The negative feelings that only waking up on a day with classes could bring came over her for a few seconds, but then she saw Diana standing over her and realized it wasn’t yet morning.

“Come on,” said Diana, “It’s a little past eleven. It’s time to go.” 

The two girls crept down the long hallway. Technically, students did have a curfew, but there was an unspoken consensus that no one cared. Avery’s room was practically on the other side of the school, or at least it felt that way. Hannah could hear the sounds of student life behind closed doors as they passed. Most were silent as the girls within slept, but other rooms still had their lights on, and some doors were even open. 

Finally, they reached Avery’s room. Hannah tried to listen through the door, but it didn’t sound like anyone was inside. Diana ushered her aside and rapped on the door. There was no response. She tried again, but there was still no answer. “I guess they’re not inside,” Hannah remarked as she went to knock on the door a third time. It opened abruptly. 

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” asked an annoyed and sleepy-looking Blair. The room behind her was dark; Hannah couldn’t tell if anyone else was inside. 

“I’m sorry,” Diana apologized, “but we’re looking for Barbara.” 

“Barbara?” Blair questioned as she rubbed her eyes, “Why the heck would she be in here? We’re trying to sleep.” 

Hannah, for the first time in a while, found that she wasn’t surprised. “She and Avery were in our room earlier and they told us they were going to go study in here. It’s been over an hour and it’s late. We’re worried,” she explained.

Blair frowned, and for a moment said nothing. “What’s going on?” asked a quiet voice. Blair stepped aside and her roommate Mary appeared beside her, suffering a bad case of bedhead.

“Avery’s gone and run off somewhere and now these two are looking for Barbara because apparently they both told us they were going to study with the other and now neither of them are where they said they’d be.” It seemed like whatever Blair had to say always came out in long blurts rather than sentences.

Mary sighed. “This isn’t the first time this week she’s disappeared like this. I wouldn’t worry about it.” 

“Yeah,” Blair agreed, and then she paused. Hannah could almost see her thinking. “Why don’t you go back to bed, Mary? I’m going to look for her.” 

“Okay,” Mary agreed simply. “Goodnight, Diana. Night, Hannah.” She yawned and retreated into the dark room. 

Blair shut the door slowly and then whipped around to face her two peers. They had been standing in silence, awkwardly waiting for the opportunity to leave or maybe get some more insight as to where their friend had gone. Truly, this was turning into a bit of a mystery now with Avery missing. Diana’s plan to catch Barbara-- Avery too, apparently-- in the act would definitely work, but only if they could find them.

“Let me ask you both something,” Blair blurted with sudden enthusiasm, catching the others off guard. She must have noticed her volume, because she lowered her voice when she continued, “Have either of you noticed anything weird with Avery lately?” 

“Um...” Hannah muttered. 

“Or Barbara, I mean? Either of them? Because I think there’s something going on, and I think I know what it is, but I don’t want to say if you haven’t noticed anything or don’t know, ya know?” 

Hannah glanced at Diana. Did this mean that Blair knew the same thing? Diana was looking back at her expectantly, so she took the hint.

“Well,” she began, “We have reason to believe that Barbara has been dabbling in… things.” This was kind of hard. Hannah didn’t know Blair all that well, and this felt like a somewhat personal topic. Though, she figured, if Avery was having the same problem as Barbara, then it seemed like Hannah and Blair were in the same boat. 

It began to dawn on Hannah just how tired she was. She wanted to be in bed, sleeping soundly through the night so she would be well rested during classes the following day, but instead she was creeping around the school at 11 at night. She was just so worried about Barbara that she’d made her problem her own problem. Barbara might not have even thought there was anything wrong with what she was doing! Hannah was about to board an entire new train of thought when Blair continued talking. “I guess we both know then. Where do you think they got that stuff?” 

“Let’s go look for them,” Diana suggested, and the three began to walk out of the corridor slowly, unsure of where exactly they were going. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’ll find out soon. I have a plan to confront them about it. I take it you haven’t tried to talk to Avery?” 

Blair dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand and rolled her eyes. “Nope. She’s hardly around enough for me to even consider it, and I don’t want Mary to find out, so I haven’t had a chance.” 

“Mary doesn’t know?” Hannah questioned. This entire situation was just so strange. “Well, how did you find out?” 

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I saw the signs. Besides, Avery’s always been kinda… oh, I don’t know. Cranky? Whatever the case, she’s that times ten now. She even yelled at Mary this morning.” Hannah nodded in understanding. Barbara had snapped at her too. 

Diana cleared her throat behind them, and they both stopped and turned to look at her. Somehow she’d ended up bringing in the rear. She was standing in front of the corridor that lead to their dorm, the same place they’d started. “We need to actually figure out where we’re going. I’m going to check to make sure Barbara didn’t come back while we were away.” Hannah and Blair watched her disappear into her room. 

“So,” Blair said in her absence, “Did you guys work out what we’re going to say-- given that they’re actually… you know. They could just be studying.” 

Hannah hadn’t thought of that. “Well, if they really are studying then they’ll probably be mad we came after them, or at least Barbara will.” 

“Yeah, so will Avery. She always gets annoyed whenever I butt in.” It seemed like Hannah and Blair had a lot in common when it came to dealing with their friends. 

Diana came back and shook her head. “She’s still out somewhere.” 

“I figured,” Blair shrugged, “If she had come back we would’ve run into Avery.”

“Where do we look first?” Hannah asked. Just then there were footsteps and the trio turned to see two girls approaching them from down the hall, Jasminka and Amanda. Amanda had a smug look on her face, and when they drew closer Hannah saw that Jasminka’s arms were loaded with sweets from the kitchen.

“May I ask what you two think you are doing?” Diana inquired, stepping towards them authoritatively. 

“Well, would you look who it is,” Amanda smirked, as if she’d just noticed the three girls standing before her. “If you must know, we’re banking on a little dessert.” 

“Those belong to everyone,” Diana reprimanded, “You shouldn’t just take all of the sweets from the kitchen for yourself. To be out this late and stealing food!” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Amanda waved her hand, “If it’s so late, then why are you three out?” She studied the group and her gaze lingered on Blair, probably wondering why she was with Hannah and Diana.

“We’re looking for Avery and Barbara,” Hannah explained. “Have you seen them anywhere?” 

“Oh, we saw ‘em alright. We passed them going into that one extra classroom on our way to raid the pantry.” Hannah knew which one she meant; it was the one students could use when they needed space to practice spells whenever it was raining outside. Akko was really the only one she’d ever seen in there. “They’re probably practicing spells or something.” Hannah ignored whatever had just been implied and hoped Amanda was right about the spells. 

The two groups made small talk for a few more minutes and then parted ways. “Come on,” Amanda told Jasminka, “Let’s go show Constanze our haul.” Blair had managed to persuade Jasminka into giving her a tart, which she ate to the tune of Diana’s disapproving looks as they walked towards the designated classroom. 

“What if we get there and they really are just practicing?” Hannah asked, voicing the concern from her private conversation with Blair. 

“It won’t matter. We can still confront them. It’s almost midnight now.” Diana was right. They’d spent a long time explaining the situation to Blair and trying to get out of making conversation with Amanda. 

Blair was quiet beside Hannah as they walked. She thought it was due to the tart, but a glance told her differently. She looked sad, and Hannah felt like she understood. She was probably tired, and worried about Avery. As they were getting closer, the entire situation was beginning to feel more real, heavier. The mood of the search party had changed drastically. No one was talking anymore; they were all too deep in thought. 

“Here we are,” Diana announced in a low voice once the room was about two yards in front of them. “Are you both ready to go in?” 

The two girls nodded, and Diana crept forward and pushed the door open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Chapter 3 coming soon!


	3. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you thought you'd seen the last of this fic. Well, sorry to disappoint! Enjoy! 
> 
> Notes: I fixed two problems in the previous chapters, one in which I'd made the weekend one day long, and another where I hadn't known that Hannah and the girls had their own personal bathroom in their dorm. Talk about special treatment.

In the back of her mind, Hannah expected to find nothing. She hoped to find nothing. The door would swing open, and no one would be inside. They’d all give up looking for their friends and go back to their dorms, only to find them safe, warm, and fast asleep in bed. Better yet, Hannah herself would wake up in bed, and everything that had happened in the past week– no, the past month– would be erased, a dream that she’d soon forget. 

How is it that she missed Barbara as much as she did? They still talked everyday, but it wasn’t the same as it used to be. Hannah would always be so busy thinking about how she’d better enjoy the moment while it lasted that she wouldn’t actually do that. It was as if she’d become self-aware of her own breathing or thinking, but instead she was just overly aware of every interaction they had. When they did talk privately, it was always about homework or other insignificant things, and Hannah couldn’t bring herself to talk about anything else without feeling awkward. They were supposed to be best friends, but Barbara felt like a stranger now. Was this what it felt like to lose her closest friend? Was Avery Barbara’s best friend now? Why did it feel like this was her biggest concern, even after everything? Maybe she was being selfish.

Hannah had been wrapped up in her thoughts as she searched the school with the other girls. She couldn’t help but make excuses in the back of her mind, ridiculous ones, like maybe they were overreacting or this wasn’t their business. The pain she felt over the situation made her want to turn around and go back. She wanted to run away from this problem. She didn’t want to go through that door, much less see what was going on inside, but there was no turning back and she knew this. Blair knew this. Diana knew this. They were going in. 

Hannah inhaled deeply as she followed behind Blair, briefly shutting her eyes as they stepped inside and hoping with her entire heart that they’d find their friends sitting together and reading, writing, or practicing spells, studying like they’d said they would. There was silence, and Hannah forced herself to look. 

The room was dim, the only light coming from a few lanterns set around the room. Hannah looked around, trying to take in the situation. Barbara was leaning against the windowsill beside Avery, staring at the group that had entered. No one spoke, but Diana took a few steps towards the corner of the room. Hannah hadn’t noticed before, but on a table there was a stack of books to study with– all closed, imagine that– and beside them, directly on the polished wood, white lines. The two may not have been caught, well, in the act, but the evidence was all there. Blair approached the table where the books and cocaine were and managed to express her thoughts ever so eloquently. 

“What in the hell?” 

“What are you doing here, Blair?” Avery demanded angrily, ignoring the other two girls and walking towards her team member with arms raised in exasperation. It was hard to tell in the candlelight, but her face looked flushed– the look of someone who knew they had been busted. As someone who didn’t know Avery very well, Hannah thought her expression was downright scary. She didn’t know how Blair could seem so relaxed with that look trained on her. 

“I can’t believe this,” Blair said, ignoring Avery’s question, “You really went and did it, huh?” To Hannah’s surprise, Blair almost sounded amused. She must have really been incredulous. Hannah realized that this must have been her first time seeing real evidence. That would be shocking to anyone, no matter how strong their suspicions had been. 

Somehow Blair’s projected nonchalance seemed to make Avery even angrier, which Hannah hadn’t thought possible previously. How could someone with such small stature hold so much anger? She spotted Barbara still standing by the windowsill, debating whether she’d join in the argument or plan her escape. They made eye contact and Barbara glared at her furiously; Hannah could feel the knots twisting in her stomach. 

Blair and Avery were practically screaming at each other now, but it just sounded like white noise to Hannah. A wave of emotion came over her and heat came to her eyes suddenly. She looked to Diana for support, hoping that her usual steady, knowing demeanor would calm her down, but for the first time since everything had started, she looked just as annoyed as the other girls. Her arms were crossed as she looked on disapprovingly. Hannah clenched her fists at her sides and tried to prevent herself from crying as she stared at the floor. She knew once she started she wouldn’t be able to stop, and she couldn’t bear the sight of Barbara’s angry stare or Blair and Avery fighting. 

“You can’t tell me what to do!” Avery continued. Neither Barbara nor Diana had yet to speak as they watched the two lavender team girls go at it. Hannah wondered if anyone would be walking around at this hour who might hear them. She wished a teacher would happen upon them and put a stop to all of this once and for all. Hannah didn’t know if she was strong enough to deal with this, even with Diana’s help and Blair’s support, but she knew that if a teacher did find them Barbara and Avery could get into serious trouble. If that happened, they’d only get angrier. Barbara may never speak to Hannah again, or even worse, she could be expelled from Luna Nova entirely. 

“Everyone stop,” Hannah interjected feebly, her own voice sounding strange to her. She didn’t have to look up to know she’d been ignored. Blair continued to chew Avery out across the room. Not even Diana, who was standing right beside her, acknowledged her weak attempt to calm the storm. 

“And another thing,” Avery quipped, “It’s not any of your business what me and Barbara are getting up to. We can go anywhere, do anything, at any time, whenever we want. What makes you think differently?” 

“Oh, I can’t believe you,” Blair retorted. She crossed her arms and cocked her head in exasperation. “It’s definitely my business. You’re my team member and you’re my friend, so of course I’m going to be paying attention and trying to stop you from– from this– ” she gestured at the cocaine on the table in disgust. 

Avery didn’t falter. “Again, none of your business. You’re not even in charge. Just because we’re team members doesn’t mean you have to hound me like a mother– a mother would. I don’t see Mary in here, sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“If Mary knew what you were up to, she’d definitely be here with me, so that argument doesn’t even make sense.”

As interested as Hannah was in the dispute of Avery and Blair, her attention turned to Barbara, who’d approached Diana and herself during the commotion. She seemed to consider Diana, who looked bored by the arguing, but then thinking better of it turned to Hannah with a huff. 

“Hannah, why did you have to tell Diana about this?” she hissed. Diana didn’t appear to notice that Barbara had crept up behind her to Hannah. “If you’d just kept your mouth shut, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” 

Hannah didn’t answer. Barbara was right. She was so right. If Hannah had just minded her own business, then everything would be okay, but she’d stuck her nose where it didn’t belong, and now Barbara was angry with her. Hannah could feel tears welling in her eyes over Barbara’s direct approach, and regret washed over her for a horrifying moment, but then she happened to glance at Diana. 

She was calmly watching the other girls argue with a look of dissatisfaction, as if this confrontation was simply another task to be completed, and seeing this made something come over Hannah. No. This wasn’t her fault. All this time she had been blaming herself, but she’d only ever been trying to help Barbara. She’d been worried sick all this time and no, she wasn’t expecting a thank you, but maybe at the very least a little bit of consideration. Hannah wasn’t the one being selfish. Barbara was the one who’d been sneaking around and dabbling in things she shouldn’t have. She should have known better. It wasn’t Hannah’s responsibility to follow her around to tell her when she was making bad decisions. 

Barbara was still glaring at Hannah, who’d blinked away her forming tears as she felt a rush of adrenaline. She’d been submissive during this entire ordeal, but now she was going to say exactly what was on her mind. 

“Oh, no,” Hannah said loudly, positively seething with realized frustration. Diana turned towards them, seeming to only now realize Barbara had approached.. “I don’t think so. You can say what you will, that none of this is my business, but I’m making it my business.” 

Barbara’s eyes widened and she blinked in surprise, but she opened her mouth to retort without hesitation. Before she could, though, Hannah stepped towards her threateningly and pointed a finger at her as she continued her tirade. “You know, lately you’ve been acting like such a– bad friend. All you do is sneak around and for what? So you can come in here and get high?” 

Avery and Blair had stopped arguing and were now watching Hannah in silence. Barbara blushed and her mouth opened and closed wordlessly, unable to respond. 

“Hannah’s right,” declared Diana, and she moved to the table where the books and cocaine were. “Now we’re going to clean this up and go to bed.” 

Diana’s tone left no room for debate. Barbara, embarrassed by her inability to think of a response to Hannah’s unexpected outburst, trudged obediently over to the table with her tail between her legs and began to stack the books in her arms. She could never resist Diana. Avery, whose shock had melted back into anger, seemed to realize there was nothing more she could do now than to move and help Barbara. She scowled as she began to sweep the leftover cocaine into a pouch much like the one Barbara had had. 

“I’ll take that,” Blair asserted, extending her hand. Avery jerked the pouch away, holding it close to her chest as if she intended to keep it, but the disapproving looks of all except Barbara, who seemed rather defeated, pressured her to relinquish it. “Thatta girl,” Blair encouraged her, and she snatched the pouch away before Avery could change her mind. 

“Now then,” Diana said simply and she opened the door, exiting the room. The other four girls followed suit. 

The walk back was stiflingly awkward. The only sounds were the quiet footsteps of the girls as they walked. Barbara and Avery were ahead of the others, like prisoners being led to their imminent doom. Hannah glanced at Diana and Blair beside her. Diana looked thoughtful but solemn, which wasn’t unusual for her, and Blair just looked like she wanted to climb into bed and nothing more. Hannah could definitely share the sentiment. 

They made their way back to the dorm rooms. No longer were any doors open, and there were no more than two lights on throughout the entire hall. The blue team girls opted to walk Blair and Avery all the way to their room. As Avery disappeared inside Blair stopped and turned around. “Here,” she said, and she held out the cocaine pouch to Diana. “It’d probably be best if you held onto this…” Her eyes slid meaningfully over to Barbara as she spoke, who was standing uncomfortably a few feet away, not quite out of earshot. Blair appeared to want to say more, but decided against it and mumbled a goodbye. 

Barbara looked like a little kid who knew she was about to be lectured, but Hannah didn’t have it in her to say anything more, and the three girls made it to their room without incident. Hannah got into bed and laid down, facing away from Barbara. She tried not to worry too much, and only a few minutes later she managed to fall asleep.

A week went by with little improvement. Diana had gone back to her usual independence, and the confrontation with Barbara had wordlessly become the incident not to be named or mentioned at all. Barbara was constantly cranky. At first Hannah had thought she was being rude because she was still mad about everything, but she realized after Barbara became sick for a few days that she was suffering from withdrawal. The good news was that so far she hadn’t tried to get her cocaine back. In fact, she hadn’t mentioned anything about it at all, though it was possible she was still embarrassed. 

Hannah didn’t like to see Barbara suffer, especially after she had clearly spent the past few days trying to reconcile with Diana and herself amid her crankiness. She must have realized her mistake. Despite Barbara’s efforts, there was still a wall between them, and with Diana having returned to normal, Hannah felt alone. 

She wished she could go to Blair for comfort, because at least she’d understand, but the truth in the matter was that they’d never really been all that close, and one night of sharing a common problem hadn’t changed that. There was no good time to approach her, and even if there had been, Hannah didn’t know what to say. Avery seemed to be lying low for now, and Hannah hadn’t seen Barbara talk to her all week, though, to be fair, it wasn’t like Hannah had been following her around this entire time. She wasn’t grounded under lockdown or anything. 

Hannah was walking towards the school library one afternoon when she heard something that stopped her dead in her tracks. She could hear quiet crying coming from below the balcony. There weren’t a lot of other girls in the area, and there was no doubt about who the noise was coming from. Hannah, who’d frozen in place at the sound, stealthily made her way to the edge of the balcony, peering over to see. Barbara and Avery were sitting together on a bench, books stacked beside them and open in their laps. Barbara had tears in her eyes, and Avery was brushing her hair with her fingers, clearly trying to make her feel better. 

Hannah hid on the balcony, crouching down as she removed herself from view. She couldn’t hear what Barbara and Avery were saying, but she could see Avery trying to reassure the other girl. Hannah’s heart was pounding in her chest. She debated minding her own business and leaving, but she was glued to the spot. She chanced another peek over the edge from where she was now on her hands and knees, studying the two girls and trying to figure out what was wrong with Barbara. 

Why was Hannah hiding? Shouldn’t she go down there and ask what was wrong? Barbara was still her best friend, after all. There was no use arguing with herself, though. She knew that things had been rough between them lately, and Barbara may have very well been crying because of something Hannah had done. The fact of the matter was that Barbara had gone to Avery with her problems, and there was nothing she could do about it. 

Hannah felt a tap on her shoulder and nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirred around, or at least she tried since she was still sitting on the floor, and scrambled to see who it was, fearing the worst.

“Eavesdropping, huh?” Blair said in a low voice. The accusation lacked any judgement. 

Hannah attempted to calm herself from the scare, allowing herself to breathe a sigh of relief. “Do you know what they’re talking about?”

Blair’s eyes lit up a bit, and, upon seeing the other girl making a move to stand up, extended her hand. “No, what?” 

Hannah took Blair’s hand and got to her feet. “I don’t know,” Hannah frowned, “I was asking you.” 

“Oh.” Blair sounded disappointed. “Well, it’s probably better that we don’t listen. Want to go to the dining hall with me? I want some tea.” 

Hannah nodded and the two made the short trip to the hall. Hannah knew that this was probably Blair’s way of inviting her to chat, and she suddenly felt shy, possibly because she didn’t have Diana here with her. Hannah hadn’t spoken to Blair since the night of the confrontation, and she was curious about her side of things. Blair had experienced the entire ordeal through Avery, who, though she’d been equally guilty, Hannah had somewhat ignored in comparison. Whenever she worried about Barbara, she hadn’t given much thought to Avery, too. Before Hannah could wonder if she should’ve been more concerned, they found an empty table and Blair handed her a cup of tea. 

“How have things been?” Blair asked her over the brim of her teacup once they’d settled. 

Hannah crossed her ankles underneath her chair and stared down at the murky liquid in front of her as she thought of how to answer. If she squinted she could just make out the steam rising from it and curling into the air. She dropped in a sugar cube.

“Better than I expected, but not good. Things have been… tense. Barbara has tried to make up with Diana and I, but it’s just been awkward these past few days. She’s been really irritable since the other night. I thought this all would pass, but now I’m not so sure. What could she and Avery be talking about?” 

“You know, I wouldn’t worry about it,” Blair said, highlighting exactly what Hannah had already begun to do, “Barbara is most likely upset because she has to put up with withdrawal. I mean I don’t know if I could handle giving up something I was utterly addicted to without any warning. She has given it up, right?”

Hannah nodded and Blair sighed, setting her cup down and leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table, using her folded hands as a chin rest. 

“I finally talked to Avery last night. She’s been acting passive-aggressively towards me all week, but that’s actually normal. She would never say it, but it seems like she’s at least a little grateful. Maybe she appreciates that we were trying to help her, even if she’s mad about it.” 

Hannah frowned. She wanted to believe what Blair was saying, but she was still thinking about Barbara crying in the library. 

Blair took her silence as an invitation to continue talking. “Anyway, we talked last night and she told me that Barbara’s addiction was worse than hers, so it will probably take longer for her to get over it. I think the important thing is to make sure neither of them has a way to get more cocaine, but… hm…” 

“But what?” Hannah asked, her eyes shifting to watch Blair, who was staring up at the ceiling in thought. 

“Well, it’s just that I don’t know where either of them got the cocaine in the first place, and Avery wouldn’t tell me. I think they got it from town, but since neither of them have gotten back on it, I guess it doesn’t matter?” 

For the first time, Blair sounded unsure, and for a second Hannah wondered if it was possible that either Avery or Barbara could get back on cocaine secretly, but that didn’t add up. Hannah definitely would have noticed, right? Besides, if one of them got back into it, then they both would, and Hannah knew she wasn’t the only one looking out for signs that the activity had resumed; Blair and Diana both had her back. 

“Yeah,” Hannah agreed, “We’ll be able to tell if they start acting sketchy again. I hope they won’t, though. I’d hate to have to get a teacher involved or something.” 

“Right,” said Blair, and Hannah could tell she thought it was a good idea. The realization made her feel a bit better. She’d been under the impression, one that she’d come up with herself, that getting a teacher was a bad idea and really sort of pathetic. 

The two girls sat for a little while longer, but there wasn’t much left to be said. Hannah sipped her tea and listened to Blair theorize about what may have caused Avery to get into cocaine in the first place, but the conversation gradually went off track. Eventually Priscilla approached and began to talk to Blair about homework, and Hannah, grateful for the interruption, quietly excused herself. She passed through the library on her way to her dorm, but Barbara and Avery had already left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to everyone who started reading for the crack and stayed for the "plot". lmao


End file.
